Karim Habib has been appointed the new head of Infiniti's design department.
The Japanese premium brand will get its new leader starting with the first day of July 2017. Karim Habib used to be the head of BMW’s design department.
In the past, he used to work for Daimler’s premium brand, Mercedes-Benz, but his career started at BMW.
Karim Habib’s previous work includes the BMW Concept CS, the previous generation of the 7 Series, the CSL Homage Concept, the X2 Concept, and the X1. He also coordinated the design cues of the ongoing Mercedes-Benz C-Class, along with the current smart fortwo.
As Infiniti notes, the new lead designer of the premium brand will report directly to Alfonso Albaisa, the newly-appointed Senior Vice President of Global Design for the Nissan Motor Corporation.
Mr. Albaisa noted that he and his colleagues are happy that Karim Habib has joined their team, and he described Karim as being “very skilled at capturing the heart and passion of a brand.” At the same time, Mr. Habib is described as being capable of “giving each design its unique character.”
The Nissan Motor Corporation decided to reshuffle its design teams after Shiro Nakamura, its current senior vice president and chief creative officer, has decided to retire.
Mr. Nakamura spent 17 years at the helm of Japan’s second-biggest automaker’s design department. Nissan and Infiniti announced the new appointments in separate statements.
Habib was educated at the McGill University In Montreal, Canada. From there, he followed the classes of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. His first stint at BMW began in 1998, but he left for Mercedes-Benz in 2009.
After almost three years with Daimler’s three-pointed-star, Habib came back to BMW, where he was an exterior designer. He moved on through the ranks at the blue-and-white roundel, but it appears that Infiniti’s proposition was more attractive than sticking with the Germans.
In the past, he used to work for Daimler’s premium brand, Mercedes-Benz, but his career started at BMW.
Karim Habib’s previous work includes the BMW Concept CS, the previous generation of the 7 Series, the CSL Homage Concept, the X2 Concept, and the X1. He also coordinated the design cues of the ongoing Mercedes-Benz C-Class, along with the current smart fortwo.
As Infiniti notes, the new lead designer of the premium brand will report directly to Alfonso Albaisa, the newly-appointed Senior Vice President of Global Design for the Nissan Motor Corporation.
Mr. Albaisa noted that he and his colleagues are happy that Karim Habib has joined their team, and he described Karim as being “very skilled at capturing the heart and passion of a brand.” At the same time, Mr. Habib is described as being capable of “giving each design its unique character.”
The Nissan Motor Corporation decided to reshuffle its design teams after Shiro Nakamura, its current senior vice president and chief creative officer, has decided to retire.
Mr. Nakamura spent 17 years at the helm of Japan’s second-biggest automaker’s design department. Nissan and Infiniti announced the new appointments in separate statements.
Habib was educated at the McGill University In Montreal, Canada. From there, he followed the classes of Pasadena’s Art Center College of Design. His first stint at BMW began in 1998, but he left for Mercedes-Benz in 2009.
After almost three years with Daimler’s three-pointed-star, Habib came back to BMW, where he was an exterior designer. He moved on through the ranks at the blue-and-white roundel, but it appears that Infiniti’s proposition was more attractive than sticking with the Germans.